"Is there anyone who would like to sleep?"
All heads shook, their eyes filled with determination. How could they possibly sleep after the horrors they just witnessed? In fact, sleeping would simply be sending oneself into another nightmare.
Kael nodded at their response, as he moved to lay Sophia on one of the bunk beds. Yet just when her soft hands were about to fully unwrap from his neck, the little girl suddenly jolted awake, her fingers curled into his shirt like talons, her breath coming in ragged, terrified hitches.
"It is okay." Kael quickly drew her back into a hold, tightening his grip around her soft body with as little strength as possible.
"You are fine. Nothing will happen to you."
The little girl's outburst slowly reduced as her tears fell once again. She wanted to cry for her mother. She wanted to see her father.
Yet she didn't scream what her heart desired, unwilling to burden the seniors and her teacher who were taking care of her. So, she buried her face into the crook of Kael's neck, her silent sobs vibrating against his collarbone.
It took several minutes of soothing to finally calm the little girl down, the heart of the others heavy at the sight of such a young child put in such a situation.
"Sophy..." Rose came to her brother's side before calling out lightly.
Sophia, hearing her voice, shifted her eyes to the little minx. Soon she wriggled out of Kael's embrace before hugging her best friend.
Seeing this, Kael sighed softly, his resolve further strengthened.
He couldn't allow his sister to face harm, and now, he also wanted to protect little Sophy.
'But to do that, I need more strength.'
Turning towards the others, he decided to act swiftly. After all, they were in a race against time. They were so much weaker and lower leveled than the monsters surrounding them, that if they didn't participate in tonight's night event, they might as well just accept their doom.
"We need to grow stronger and level up. But with the average zombies now so much stronger, we have no choice but to work together."
"Also, we need to scavenge for more food and water. We can't simply live on the little the system gives." The others nodded in agreement as they felt his reasoning was sound.
"To that end..." Kael started before drawing out his space ring from his inventory.
The eyes of the others widened from his action, not because of how he drew an object out of seemingly empty air. After all, they had all received rewards for surviving the night.
No, they were surprised because of how he had a ring in the first place. Thankfully, Kael filled their curiosity the next moment, unwilling to waste time on such useless things.
"This is a space ring. I received it yesterday as a system reward for killing a monster several levels above me. It has a ten-cubic-meter space, and can store any non-living object, suspending them in time at the state they were placed within." The ring glinted with a dull, mysterious luster in the dim room, looking more like an ancient relic than a modern accessory.
A look of understanding dawned on the others, and the realization that they had such an advantage, no matter how little it looks, in this God-forsaken apocalypse filled them with a bit more hope.
"So, I will be in charge of finding more food, and other necessities we might need. Another group will move out to form a cooperation with any surviving humans we can find. With so few of us, the more we are, the more our chances of survival. What do you all think?"
Seeing that Claire wasn't really saying much, and already deducing from her soft nature that she might not be much help in such matters, Nathan took it upon himself to answer. After all, Alice didn't look like the type who speaks much, and Natalie was a little too young to make decisions, not like they were much older themselves.
"Sounds like a plan, a good one." The handsome boy gave Kael a thumbs up in admiration, as he flashed a smile. Yet, despite how stressed he looked, that little action of his still caused the girls in the room aside from Claire and Alice to look at him with a dazed, lovestruck gaze.
A look of irritation flashed on Kael's face, as he shut the opened mouth of his little sister who was looking at Nathan as if he was some celebrity.
"Will you close your mouth? You are embarrassing me."
Rose harrumphed, the little girl pouting, as she flashed him a finger.
"Just say you are jealous that you are not even a tenth as attractive as he is."
"Hey, don't do that!" Claire quietly rebuked from behind, prompting the little minx to grab her friend and jump into the young teacher's embrace.
A vein bulged on Kael's head, while Nathan blushed slightly at the unexpected praise.
"Ahem!" Kael cleared his throat, before he continued, "Before we each move out, we need to focus on leveling up. To do that, we need to come up with a fighting strategy, one that will give us an advantage. Knowing our abilities, at least, a general view of them will tell us how to move."
Nathan nodded, as he quickly took the stage.
"What Kael said is reasonable. On that note, I will go first."
The handsome boy raised his hand, causing his shadow to peel itself off the floor like a layer of black oil, solidifying into a silent, featureless duplicate of Nathan.
"Wow.."
"That is incredible!"
Gasps resounded within the room as they saw the strange ability. The shadow further waving at them sent them down another spiral of shock.
Rose's outstretched mouth closed, her eyes shining with curiosity, as her soft cute voice suddenly echoed within the room.
"Is it intelligent?"
Before Nathan could even respond, the shadow flashed the little girl a thumbs up.
"That is so cool..." Sophia whispered in admiration, but realizing she had spoken out, the little girl quickly covered her mouth and lowered her head in embarrassment.
Nathan sighed at his shadow acting without his permission, rubbing his hair to the side to dampen his frustration. Yet that little gesture took the attention of the girls away from the shadow for a moment.
"Will you continue? We don't have all day!" Kael's irritated voice brought the girls out of their trance, prompting them to blush, while little Rose sniggered at her brother.
"The shadow shares the same stats as me. And I can switch places with it in its manifested form without any cooldown." Reaching the end of his speech, Nathan puffed his chest out a little in pride.
After all, being able to teleport around in a fight was a great ability, one the others also agreed was incredible.
Except Kael.
A look of disdain flashed once more in his eyes as he gazed at this senior of his he had come to have a little bit of respect for.
'Cooldowns? I don't have it. Besides, what is so good about having a clone of yourself, when you are so weak?'
While the others were still reeling at Nathan's incredulous display, Alice, who had remained quiet since the beginning of their meeting, suddenly moved.
Her mana responded to her call, the air humming with energy as the blue light condensed, weaving itself into solid matter with a sharp, crystalline sound. Soon, two blue mana constructs formed in her hands.
One was a shield, with simple features, yet dense and thick enough to show it boasted formidable defenses.
As for the sword, despite being formed from mana, its edges shone with a sharpness that stung the eyes when looked upon.
"Wow!"
Rose gasped in wonder as she approached Alice, shy Sophia in tow.
She touched the shield, and felt how smooth and real its surface was, but when she was about to stretch her hand to the sword, Alice dispelled it, causing the construct to disintegrate into glowing blue speckles.
Rose pouted at that, but she said nothing and instead showered the quiet Alice in praise, causing the usually deadpan girl to blush slightly, a sight that amused Kael.
"Big sister is not only beautiful but looks like one of those Valkyrie women in movies."
Kael was about to stop his sister's antics when Alice suddenly summoned another sword, startling Rose and causing her to shift in guard.
Alice's eyes lingered on the girl in silent warning before turning to the others.
"I can also make weapons for the others. Though it costs me a lot of mana to do so."
Everyone's eyes widened in surprise, the flicker of hope in their eyes now blossoming into something more.
"Though, I will receive ten percent of each exp you gain." She added lastly.
"That doesn't matter." Nathan voiced out in admiration and clear happiness.
Claire nodded her head, her eyes sparkling with relief, "Having weapons to face these monsters will raise our chances of survival greatly."
While the others discussed with more life in their voices, Kael silently gazed at the quiet Alice in wonder. As if sensing his gaze, she turned to him, her head tilting a moment later in silent question.
"Ten percent?" Kael whispered, as his eyes remained fixed on her, an unfamiliar emotion glowing within their depths. "I thought you received fifty percent of each kill made with your sword."
Realization dawned on Alice as she seemed to notice the issue, causing a rare smile to grace her face. The smile transformed her cold, doll-like features into something devastatingly radiant, making the dim dorm room feel suddenly too small, as everyone's eyes stared fixedly at those mesmerizing amethyst eyes.
Even the handsome Nathan looked charmed, unable to tear his eyes from the deceptively beautiful Alice.
It was as if her smile had enhanced her already attractive appearance by several folds.
'Big sister smiled?' Natalie thought in shock. Others were gobsmacked by her beauty, but Natalie knew how rare it was for her sister to show any emotion.
"I can control the setting." Alice didn't seem to care about the looks she was receiving as she continued, "The lowest I can set it to is ten percent, and the highest, ninety percent. You don't need to thank me for my help."
Kael's dark-as-night eyes almost spat fire as he glared at the smiling Alice, his wounded pride not caring for how enchanting she looked at the moment.
'This fucking bitch.'
*****
AN: Thank you for reading. Vote power stones if you enjoyed the chapter😁.